EXCLUSIVE: Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, John Berendt’s 1994 bestselling book and Pulitzer Prize finalist is being developed into a new musical by playwright Taylor Mac, with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, choreography by Tanya Birl and Sarah O’Gleby and direction by Rob Ashford.
An invitation only industry reading will take place May 12 and 13 in New York.
Mac is the MacArthur Fellow, Pulitzer Prize Finalist, a Tony Nominee (Best Play for Gary, A Sequel to Titus Andronicus) perhaps best known for the critically acclaimed Off Broadway production of A 24-Decade History of Popular Music.
Ashford is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Emmy Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning director and choreographer whose Broadway credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Frozen, How To Succeed In Business, Promises, Promises, Evita, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek, John Water’s Cry Baby, Curtains, and The Wedding Singer. Film credits include choreography for Disney’s Cinderella, Beyond the Sea, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Ted 2, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. He directed the TV events Peter Pan Live! and The Sound of Music Live!
Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil told the the non-fiction story of a socially prominent Savannah, Georgia, antiques dealer who was tried, and retried, for murder. A more fictionalized version of the book was adapted for Clint Eastwood’s 1997 film of the same name.
Composer and lyricist Brown is currently represented on Broadway with Parade starring Ben Platt and directed by Michael Arden. Other credits include The Last Five Years, 13, The Bridges of Madison County, and Mr. Saturday Night, among others.
Birl’s Broadway credits include Memphis the Musical, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and On The Town, among others. O’Gleby’s credits include the upcoming Broadway musical Shucked and the recent Almost Famous.
The new Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil musical adaptation is being produced by Hal Luftig, Craig Haffner, and Sherry Wright.